Getting Paid to do What you Love?

Sounds good doesn’t it? It’s the thing most of us want, but can’t figure out how to do. Most of us give up on that dream and let gravity pull us in the way that best suits our life and family needs. You know…money, title, image, success. But, does it have to be that way?

Getting paid to do what you love is a simple way to think about your vocational calling. Or, as Steve Graves and Tom Addington define it in the book they cowrote with John Maxwell (Life@Work), “calling is God’s personal invitation for me to work on His agenda using the talents I’ve been given in ways that are eternally significant.”

I have been a lifelong student of Calling. My first job out of college (which I took because I really didn’t have any other options), was a Godsend. I loved it. But after five years, I felt God pushing me out of my comfort zone So, on January 1, 1985 I cancelled my cable TV plan, and started reading What Color is Your Parachute. Still in publication, this book was the preeminent “calling” book of its time. I spent one month working through this book on weekends to understand what I was good at and what I loved doing. I’ll spare you the details, but five months later I was living in San Francisco working for McKesson Corporation.

Granted, all of this was much easier when I was single and in my twenties, as many of you are. But it set in motion a desire to be sensitive to God’s calling for my work. And my calling journey has continued when 12 years ago my passions, talent, faith, experiences to date, and opportunity came together when I chose to leave J.B. Hunt Transport and become the first employee of WorkMatters. While we obviously didn’t use “What Color is Your Parachute”, you can imagine the hard work and prayer my wife and I put into pursuing and then saying yes to my most recent calling.

So what about you? Where are you in your “vocational calling”? Stuck? Not really thinking about it?Let me encourage you to be a lifelong student of your calling. Whether you are 25 or 55, your life’s purpose is involved here. We will write about it often here on our new blog, because if we are to work towards closing the gap between our faith and work, we must be seriously committed to exploring and committing to our calling.

Want to learn more? WorkMatters has a powerful selection of podcasts from marketplace leaders sharing personal perspective on Calling. There is wisdom and guidance in these messages. I would love to hear your thoughts on Calling. Share your comments here or on Twitter.

David Roth has been the president and CEO of Workmatters since October, 2003. Workmatters is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in Northwest Arkansas in 2003 with a mission is to help people pursue God’s purpose for their work. Since then, Workmatters has been used to impact thousands of leaders in Northwest Arkansas and across the U.S. Prior to leading Workmatters, Mr. Roth was vice president, sales and marketing for J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. Before joining J.B. Hunt in 1999, David was the senior vice president of marketing for Manugistics, a supply chain management software provider in Maryland and vice president of marketing for American Software in Atlanta, Ga. He also has nine years of supply chain management experience with McKesson Corporation in San Francisco, Calif. and Harrison, Ark. David has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Arkansas. He resides in Fayetteville, Ark. with his wife, Theresa and has two sons, Dylan and Tyler.